Crack-preventing means for looms.



N0. 804,981. PATBNTED NOV 21, 1905. C. F. ROPER.

CRACK PREVENTING MEANS FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE a, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. ROPER, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSI GNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed June 3, 1905. Serial No. 263,550-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLns F. ROPER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hopedale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Crack-Preventing Means for Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals on thedrawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a novel and effective means for preventing the formation of cracks in the cloth being woven on a loom when the power is thrown off.

. When the loom is running at normal speed, the lay reaches its extreme forward position on each beat at the instant the filling is beaten in, due to the momentum of the rapidly-moving parts, and it is well known that when the loom is running at a slower speed the lay will not move quite so far forward on each beat. This is particularly noticeable when the power is thrown off of the loom, for instantly the speed drops and the momentum of the .lay decreases very rapidly before the loom comes to a full stop. The forward beat or beats of the lay after the power is thrown off will not properly beat in the filling, because the lay does not move forward quite so far, and while filling ispresent the same is not beaten into the fell as firmly as it should be, causing what is technically termed a crack.

In my present invention I prevent the formation of a crack in the clothby arresting the forward movement of the lay before it can beat in the filling, such arrest being effected by the actuation of means rendered operative automatically upon movement of a loom-governing device, such as a shipper, to effect the stoppage of the loom, the movement of the lay being made effective to cause the actuation of such means.

The novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure 1 is a left-hand side elevation of a sufficient portion of a loom to be understood with one embodiment of my present invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the novel portions of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the governing device or shipper and the parts adjacent thereto, to be described; and Fig. 1 is a perspective detail of a guide and support, to be referred to.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the lay 1, crankshaft 2, having fast upon it a rotatable brake member 3, a cooperating member or shoe 4:, angularly movable on a fulcrum 5, constituting brake mechanism for the loom, the link 6, connecting the shoe with the frog 7, forming a part of the usual protector mechanism, the latter including the dagger 8, binder-finger 9, and binder 10, Fig. 1, and operating in usualmanner, the shipper 11, fulcrumed at 12 on the loom side and thrown into position to stop the loom by the spring 13, and the notched holding-plate 1 1 for the shipper may be and are all substantially of well-known construction and operating in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art.

When improper positioning of the shuttle occurs, the dagger engages and moves the frog forward, and the brake mechanism is operated to prevent full forward movement of the lay in usual manner, and through a knockoff arm 15, Fig. 1, the operation of the protector mechanism releases the governing deto release the shipper upon the occurrence of.

a filling fault by or through outward movement of the fork-slide 18, and shipper release is also effected through such ,lever 16 upon the occurrence of a warp fault. This is effected through the auxiliary lever 19,(see Fig. 1,) fulcrumed on the loom side and connected at its upper end by a link 20 with the knock-01f lever 16, the lower end of lever 19 having a lateral projection 21, which is engaged by a hooked dog 22, carried by the lay-sword 1 and which is moved into operative position upon detection of warp failure, substantially as in my United States Patent No. 719,879, granted February-3, 1903, towhich reference may be had. A sufficient portion of the warp-stop-motion mechanism is indicated in Fig. 1 to enable the same to be understood.

In the embodiment of my present invention herein illustrated a lateral ear 23 on the brake member or shoe 4 is apertured to receive loosely a rod 24, extended rearward beyond the ear and having upon its threaded end a washer 25 and holding-nut 26, a strongspring 27 being coiled around the rod between the ear and the washer, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Apin 28 limits rearward movement of the rod in the ear. The rod 2 1 is extended forward under the lay and is slidably supported and guided at its front end by and between upturned cheeks 29 of a bracket 30, rigidly secured to the loom side, a hole 31 being made in the bracket between the bases of the cheeks. (See Fig. 4:.)

Adjacent its fulcrum 12'the governing device or shipper 11 is provided with a lateral and rearwardly-bent arm 32, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) to which the spring 13 is attached, the end of the arm having a hole to receive loosely the depending end ofa rod 33, having a collar 3 1 fast thereon above the arm, a spring 35 surrounding the rod between the collar and the arm. Said springis of sufiicient stiffness normally to sustain the rod in the position shown in Fig. 1, the rod being bent above the collar and then upturned, as at 36, to slidably enter the hole 31 in bracket 30 and bear against the under side of the rod 24:, heretofore .referred to. A bunter 37 is adjustably secured on the rod 24: by a set-screw 38, Fig. 1, and normally the lay will swing forward and back above the bunter entirely out of engagement therewith. When the front end of the rod 2 1is elevated, however, the bu nter will be raised high enough to be engaged by the lay on its forward beat, and thereupon the rod 2 1 will be moved forward, compressing the spring 27 and effecting the operation of the brake mechanism to stop the loom absolutely and fully before the lay completes its full forward movement. When the governing device or shipper 11 is released, either by hand or automatically, upon the occurrence of a fault in the filling or the warp, it swings on its fulcrum 12 and lifts the free end of the arm 32, compressing the spring 35 and raising the positioningrod 33 36, so that the front end of the brakesetting rod 24 is lifted high enough to bring the bunter 37 into the path of and to be struck by the lay as it beats up. The power having been thrown off the loom by release of the shipper, the momentum of the lay at once decreases, and the lay wouldordinarily tend to beat in the filling just laid in such a manner as to form a crack in the cloth, as described; but the stoppage of the lay before it reaches front center prevents the filling from being beaten in and the formation of a crack is obviated. The spring 27 is interposed between the brake-shoe andthe setting-rod 24% in order to provide some slight yield when the parts operate, preventing stoppage of the lay with a severe shock and acting as a cushion therefor. If the shipper is released after the lay has moved forward beyond the hunter, no harm is done, because in such case the lay has sulficient momentum to properly beat in the fillingg but the brake mechanism will be applied in time to act before the next beat-up of the lay can be completed. On the occurrence of a warp fault with the warp stop-motion such as herein shown, wherein the shipper is released as the lay swings back, the crack-preventing means operates on the immediately-following forward beat of the lay, as will be manifest. When the crack-preventing means operates, the shuttle will be boxed in one or the other of the shuttle-boxes in readiness to be picked when the loom is started without any attention or positioning by the attendant. The shuttle is picked when the lay is about at top center, and it is boxed between back and bottom centers before the lay is in position on its forward beat to en gage the hunter, provided the latter is moved into the lay-path, and thereby the shuttleis properly boxed when the loom is brought to a complete stop.

In some of the claims I have referred to a device to govern the operation of the loom, meaning thereby the member or device which throws the power off from or onto the loomas, for instance, the shipper herein illustrated-the device moving into position to effect loom stoppage when released from its holding means and opposite movement of such device acting to start the loom.

ation thereof, a lay, brake mechanism for the loom, and means to actuate the said mechanism and stop the lay before it reaches front center, operation of said means being effected automatically by the movement of the lay upon movement of the governing device to cause stoppage of the loom.

3. In a loom, a device to govern the oper ation thereof, a lay, protector mechanism, a brake mechanism actuated by or through the operation of said protector mechanism, and independent means actuated by movement of the lay to operate the brake mechanism and prevent complete beat-up of the lay upon movement of the said governing device to effect stoppage of the loom, whereby the formation of a crack in the cloth is obviated.

4C. In a loom, a device to govern the operation thereof, a lay, and yieldingly-operating means actuated by the lay to automatically prevent beating-in of the filling when said governing device is moved to effect stoppage of the loom. I

5. In a loom, a shipper, a lay, and means actuated thereby when rendered operative by movement of the shipper to cause stoppage of the loom, to arrest the forward movement of the lay before the filling is beaten in.

6. In a loom, a shipper, a lay, a rotatable brake member, a shoe to cooperate therewith, and means actuated by the lay and rendered operative by or through movement of the shipper to effect stoppage of the loom, to effect cooperation of the said brake members and stop the lay before the filling is beaten in.

7. In a loom, a shipper, a lay, a rotatable brake member, a shoe to cooperate therewith, and yieldinglyoperating means, rendered operative by movement of the shipper to stopping position, to operate the brake to stop the lay before it reaches front center and thereby prevent the formation of acrack in the cloth.

8. In a loom, a lay, a shipper, means to release it automatically upon the occurrence of a warp or a filling fault, and means actuated by or through the lay, when operatively positioned by manual or automatic release of the shipper, to arrest the lay on itsforward beat before the filling is beaten in.

9. In a loom, brake mechanism, including two normally non-cooperating members, a lay, a shipper, means to effect the cooperation of said members when the shuttle is improperly boxed, and independent brake-actuating means caused to operate by movement of the lay when said means is rendered operative by or through movement of the shipper to effect stoppage of the loom, to thereby arrest the lay before it reaches front center.

10. In a loom, brake mechanism, a shipper, an operating member for said mechanism, ha"- ing a spring connection therewith and provided with a bunter, and means operated upon movement of the shipper to stopping position to move the bunter into the path of the lay on its forward beat, to move the operating member and thereby set the brake mechanism to stop the lay before it reaches front center.

11. In a loom, a shipper, a lay, brake mechanism, including a rotating member and an angularly-movable member adapted to cooperate therewith, and means to effect cooperation of said brake members when the shipper is moved to effect stoppage of the loom, said means including a strong cushioningspring acting upon the angularly-movable brake member, such operation of the brake mechanism gradually stopping the forward beat of the lay before it reaches front center.

12. In a loom, brake mechanism therefor, protector mechanism to actuate it when the shuttle is improperly boxed, a lay, a shipper, and means, actuated by the lay and rendered operative by movement of the shipper to effect stoppage of the loom, to operate the brake mechanism independently of said protector mechanism and stop the lay before the filling is beaten in.

In testimony WhereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. ROPER.

Witnesses:

GEoRG-E OTIS DRAPER, ERNEST W. WooD. 

